Savannah Comedy Jam a bright spot between Christmas and New Year's

“The world ain’t come to an end,” he says. “I said it was just a bunch of baloney, but just in case, I stayed up all night.”

Not that Curry worries much about predictions. “I’ve been a comedian over 25 years,” he says. “I bet Nostradamus wouldn’t have predicted that.”

Curry is the headliner of “The Night After Christmas Comedy Jam,” which is coming to the Johnny Mercer Theatre on Dec. 28. Other comics who will perform are Luenell, Marcus Combs and Sherman Golden.

Curry is best known as Craig’s Uncle Elroy — lottery winner and womanizer extraordinaire — in the films “Next Friday” and “Friday After Next.” After getting his start on BET’s “Comic View,” he also hosted the show and had a part in the sitcom “Grace Under Fire.”

At a young age, Curry sometimes got in trouble for his practical jokes. “I would like to stand back and watch the reactions,” he says.

“I got in trouble from the teachers who were always meeting with my parents,” Curry says. “They’d say, ‘We had to suspend him. He’s got to know he can’t do this.’”

For a time, Curry was a Minor League baseball player. “When we were on the road with the games, I would go to comedy clubs,” he says.

“I most enjoyed the open mic nights. I wasn’t a heckler. I liked to see guys just starting. I liked to see the ones struggling, it was hilarious to me.

“One night they ran out of comics and asked if anyone would like to come up and try,” Curry says. “I said, ‘Nobody in here knows me,’ so I went up and that was it. I was hooked.”

Curry is a storyteller. “I tell very few jokes,” he says. “I’m kind of a satirist.

“It’s my testimony about life and its humors and if I had to pinpoint a philosophy, it would be, ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff.’”

Irony amuses Curry the most. “It’s the irony of life in general,” he says. “I narrow it down to life in America.

“I’m a black guy, a black guy in America, in the world,” Curry says. “It’s funny how seriously we take ourselves.

“Take the end of the world thing,” he says. “A lot of people said they were staying up until midnight as if the end of the world was set for American time, yet in China, it’s probably already Jan. 2.”

Curry refers to his shows as “town meetings,” and that’s what he’ll do in Savannah. “It’s an examination of life,” he says.

“I’m looking forward to coming and I like Savannah and appreciate the historic value of Savannah,” Curry says. “I may talk about that some. I’ve been doing some research on slavery and slave ships and I’m excited.”

Luenell was one of the few actual actors in the 2006 hit film “Borat” when she played a hooker with a heart of gold. She also has been seen on BET’s “Comic View” and is featured on the new season of “Wild ‘N Out.”

Combs is featured on the DVD Series “P.Diddy presents: The Bad Boys of Comedy,” Russell Simmons’ “Def Comedy Jam” and “Cut’n it up: Chicago.” He has appeared on stage with Bernie Mac, Tony Roberts and Earthquake, and performed across the country in comedy clubs, at colleges and concerts.

Golden, a native of Cleveland, currently lives in Atlanta. “We’re going to give somebody something to do,” he says. “I guess a lot of people are looking forward to a good night out after Christmas.”

Golden has performed in Savannah before. “I was in Savannah about two years ago with Frankie Beverly,” he says.

Although he has 19 years experience as a comedian, Golden says he didn’t know he was funny at first. “I was always the guy laughing at somebody else,” he says.

“I wasn’t trying to get into no trouble. I was at a comedy club one night, and they had a comedian who wasn’t funny.

“I said, ‘I could do that,’” Golden says. “The owner was behind me and said ‘There’s an open mic next week.’”

Sure enough, the next week, Golden was back. “I made ‘em laugh,” he says. “I was hooked. I had the bug.”